"You should move out of this place soon. We can never know when the monsters will flock here again," Daniel Bran said while setting himself down again.
I sighed as he sat beside me.
I have no other choice but to close the screen and focus on what is more important right now. Now that I know how to open the SUP (System User Profile) window, I can check on it whenever I want anyway. Right now, all I want is to recover and leave the place even though I have no idea where to go.
By now, the government must have declared a state of emergency, and have taken measures and deployed all their men for national defense.
"That's right. What are your plans, Private?"
"I have to find ways to contact my troop and get ahold of what's happening," Daniel replied, moving closer to him. My eyebrows shot up from his unsolicited movement.
I was startled when his face moved closer to me with his arms outstretched like they were aiming for a hug. Instinctively, I moved away which left the soldier's hands suspended in the air. Daniel Bran looked up and saw my eyes tinged with discomfort and a bit of suspicion. He froze when he realized that I might misunderstand him.
"…Oh, I was just trying to change your bandage…," he explained, looking a bit dejected.
I gaped. Why does he look so upset and sad? It's only normal to move away when a stranger loomed over you like that, isn't it?! I suddenly feel bad because of his downcast eyes and drooping soldiers. He looked like a chick doing MTV in the rain.
To ease my unreasonable guilt, I grinned widely at him and replied cheerfully before weaving a lie, "Oh! I'm just ashamed I smell terrible. I didn't mean anything else."
I wanted to slap myself for being ungrateful. How can I treat my savior like that? To show that my words were genuine, I slowly scooched over closer to the soldier and opened my arms, waiting for the other man to continue his intention.
"Here, can you please help me again?"
Daniel Bran nodded and unwrapped my bandage carefully.
He has a large build and is taller than me, and if anyone were to see us sitting together, they would think that I'm just like a kid compared to him. The long sleeves of his uniform were a bit torn and folded just above his elbows, revealing his thick arms with visible veins. One flick of those hands will surely send me flying away to outer space.
I shuddered from the thought.
I should be careful not to upset the man.
My eyes hovered above the soldier's head and remembered my new ability. I tried to use the ability to him, though I didn't know how to activate the Caster's Eyes, I think simply touching the arrow above the soldier's head.
The bobbing green arrow exploded into smoke after it was touched, and when the smoke cleared, the letters above were revealed.
It was something that almost made me spit my lungs.
I was lost for words. The worn-out cogs that run through my head stopped working and I forgot what those two words meant.
[Male Lead]
"…"
Daniel Bran noticed the hand stretched out reaching above his head and asked me, "Is there something on my head?"
He asked but I couldn't give him an answer. Even though I badly wanted to say – yes, there is. Congrats, dude! You're the male lead! And I'm supposed to be your partner! Ha.Ha.Ha.
I probably shouldn't. It made me wonder how useless this ability can get.
He traced the line of my sight and looked up afterward, and then his brows furrowed when he failed to see anything.
Daniel Bran, "What is it?"
It would have been better to get an ability that reads the mind. I could probably use that to survive longer.
"…"
So? How the hell am I going to answer him?
If a mind reader could read my mind, he'd probably recite the letters in the middle tier of the keyboard. That's how writers express when one's thoughts are jumbled, isn't it? Unexplainable, and unspeakable.
I felt a light tap on my cheeks, and I blinked my eyes several times, wishing that I was just suffering from a hallucination. But when I found Daniel Bran's face just a few inches from me, I almost shrieked and jumped, if only I could. Out of surprise and disbelief at what I had read, I backed myself away so rashly that my wounded back hit the stack of hay. It's not that hard, but it still hurts.
"Argh!"
A stinging bolt of pain traveled from my back down to my tailbone. I squirmed on the floor, cursing all the normal ants I saw crawling under a wood plank.
"Are you okay?!" Daniel Bran knelt beside me. I'm not okay, dude. Don't ask obvious questions from girls, you'll get rolling eyes at you for sure. But as I am not a girl – I hope my point is taken; I just waved my hand signifying I'm fine.
His hands hovered above me, unsure where to put them.
But my head was occupied not by the pain, but by the absurdity of this world.
'WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!' – If only thoughts can be shouted through the mind, the entire barn would have been shaken from my inner rambling. Even when I closed my eyes, I still could see those two words jumping around, encircling me like an excited bunny waiting for its carrots.
Male lead! Male lead! – Those bunnies would say jumping up and down as if provoking me to commit animal abuse.
I grabbed my head and had the urge to slam in on the floor. A 'protagonist' is the main character of the story, then the male lead is the main character's partner.
In other words, the main character's love interest!
Wouldn't that mean the original protagonist was a woman?! Or is it something to do with the genre of the novel? I did not dwell on these deeper, all I wanted was to erase the idea in my mind.
I cursed the guardians silently, shouting my mind out, 'I DON'T SWING THAT WAY! CHANGE IT!'
Am I doomed to fall in love with him? Hell, no. I shuddered from that thought.
The guardians could choose me as the new protagonist, so they can surely change a character's role, right? I prayed earnestly to the person those guardians kept calling the 'Creator'.
Daniel Bran asked me for the nth time since I'm not answering him, "Mister! Are you—
A shrilling sound made the both of us wince.
My prayer was cut off when an annoying sound permeated my ears.
What is it? Where did it come from?
I covered my ears, looked around me, and saw Daniel covering his ears as well. But the woman and her child in the corner didn't. They just looked at me with fear and bewilderment.
Ting!
A blue screen popped in the air and caught my attention.
[Congratulations! You have awakened!]
I only raised my brows in question. I was no longer perplexed seeing a hologram-like screen that only I could see.
But when I saw Daniel Bran looked baffled and shocked, I wondered if he could see the same thing.
"What is this?"
I heard Daniel whispered.
My head spun towards the soldier upon hearing his words. I gave him an astounded look. Then, I asked with uncertainty, "Can you also see that?"
"I can. Do you know what it is?"
I was astonished. It only means that I'm not the only one who could have those windows. Thinking back, the guardians did not tell me how I could save the world from those enlarged animals with hideous faces. But if there are people like me who possess abilities, then I might succeed.
Maybe the message will be the start of discovering our abilities and powers to fight the monsters.
"I'm not sure," I answered. I tried checking my SUP window to see any changes. The screen appeared in the air again.
[System User Profile
User: Atlas Sterne Rank: S
Health: 87 % Mana: 92 %
>>>>Stats
>>>Strength: 45 %
>>>Stamina: 45 %
>>>Speed: 78 %
>>>Skill: 54 %
>>>Intellect: 85 %
>>>Luck: 90 %
>>>>Abilities
>>>Escape Route Lvl. 1
>>Default Route >Teleportation Lvl. 1
>>>Caster's Eyes Lvl. 1
>>Default Vision > Character's Role
>>>>Inventory
>>>>Bank]
I immediately noticed the 'S' next to the Rank. I didn't have a general idea of what it meant, but I knew it was one of the highest.
"Heh."
I unconsciously smirked, feeling proud of myself. At the same time, Daniel Bran gave me a quizzical look.
And according to my 'Health', I was almost near to my complete recovery, though I still felt some bite of pain from time to time. My stats doubled except the 'Intellect', it quadrupled.
Does being an awakened person make someone boost their intelligence? I suddenly felt so smart. Give me a jigsaw and I will fix the puzzles within a minute.
"Have you found what it was?" Daniel Bran pulled me from my daydreams.
"It's a gift from the heavens. To give us the power to fight off the monsters."
"How?" Daniel Bran replied.
"See for yourself," I faced the soldier, "Listen, try thinking that you wanted to open your System User Profile."
Daniel Bran, "System User Profile?"
"There's something like a screen that will pop in front of you. You can press on it if you want to check something. Go ahead, try it."
"Okay," Daniel Bran answered. He then proceeded to obey me. I couldn't see if he succeeded, thus, I waited.
[Daniel Bran tried to do what the madman said. Surprisingly, it didn't take him long to succeed.
A screen floated in the air before him.
[System User Profile
User: Daniel Bran Rank: S
Health: 100 % Mana: 47 %
>>>>Stats
>>>Strength: 95 %
>>>Stamina: 100 %
>>>Speed: 45 %
>>>Skill: 85 %
>>>Intellect: 74 %
>>>Luck: 15 %
>>>>Abilities
>>>>Inventory
>>>>Bank]
Then, he looked at the man who wasn't perturbed by the strange phenomena at all.]